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Quick Hits: If you're planning to buy a home do it now, because prices are going up for the next few years . Investments in single-family properties that are split into rental units have good potential in Boulder. Straight single-family rentals will work best in Adams county. These investments must be made quickly because prices are rising. Apartment developments have the best potential in Denver county. Construction loans will have low risk but default risk for mortgages will increase in a couple of years as Denver and Boulder become over-priced. Best bets for investments in retail restaurants are in Adams county.

A "Coming Soon For Sale" sign stands in the yard of a single family home in Denver, Colorado, U.S. Photographer: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

At the intersection of plains and Rockies, without good farming land or other advantages, Denver was built to extract minerals - and to a large extent it still does. Even in recent decades, jobs and population growth ebbed and flowed according to the price of oil. A combination of Dallas and Houston for the West, Denver now provides both the financing and technical expertise for much of the fracking boom in the High Plains. Energy is no longer the main driver of the local economy, but still an important one.

The area economy is also driven by the universities in Boulder and Ft. Collins, whose federal research dollars have spawned a growing computer technology industry. The combination of energy and technology jobs, along with the universities and an outdoor life-style, has attracted a young population to the area - a population of renters. While the technology industry - and it's well paying jobs - will continue to grow, the fracking boom is pretty much over and won't be adding many jobs in the future. That leaves healthcare and the universities as sources of moderate but steady growth.

Right now, growth is good throughout the area but strongest in Adams and Larimer (Ft. Collins) counties, mildest in Boulder. Adams county is growing because Denver is expanding northward; Ft. Collins has new manufacturing jobs. Computer technology and healthcare provide much of the growth in Boulder and in Denver county, healthcare and construction in Jefferson, Douglas and Arapahoe counties.

Denver had only a mild home price boom in the mid-2000s - partly because there's always more land you can build on - and a very mild bust. With the recent boom in jobs, prices are climbing again, up 14 percent in Denver and Boulder in the past year, 12 percent in Ft. Collins. Because the fracking boom is near the end, I expect another year of sharply higher prices but slower increases after that, a total of 35 percent over the next three years. Recent prices have been strongest in Arapahoe and Denver counties but I expect the strongest future prices in Adams and Douglas counties.

Home prices are highest in Boulder, but Denver county has the highest proportion of renters, 50 percent. Denver county also has the lowest rents because many renters live in larger apartment buildings. The high price-to-rent ratio favors splitting single-family homes into rental units for the large student and staff population in Boulder. Straight single-family rentals work best in Adams county but also in Arapahoe county and Ft. Collins. ANY single-family rental investment must be made quickly because prices are rising so sharply.

Investments in apartment buildings will probably be successful in the short run, as rents rise steadily, but slower growth of the fracking industry makes longer-term investments less attractive. Cash flows that incorporate endless rent increases are too optimistic.

Mortgages are a good investment now because rising home prices will quickly grow equity cushions. However, the sharply higher home prices will soon produce an over-priced situation, mainly in Denver and Boulder, and therefore higher default risk. Construction loans for properties completed in the next couple of year have modest risk, but large developments should be financed in careful stages.

I expect the largest proportionate amount of construction in Adams county over the next three years, the smallest in Boulder. About 30,000 new units will be built in Denver county, a slight majority of them apartments; 20,000 each in Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, a slight majority single-family; 12,000 units in Ft. Collins and 8,000 in Boulder.

With good population growth, investments in retail stores and restaurants are favorable throughout the area. Douglas county has the highest income, Boulder and Douglas county the most college graduates, Adams county the largest Latino concentration. Even though retail and restaurant jobs have increased a lot in Adams county, the population remains under-served compared to other counties. With a high concentration of retail jobs already, Douglas county and Ft. Collins may be a difficult retail investment.

I'm the president of Local Market Monitor - the experts in local markets - which has followed real estate dynamics and the economy in 300 local markets since 1989 and is especially known for our forecasts of home prices. I was a founder of First Research, which follows 250 ...